7 Games Like The Forest in 2023

Survival horror games are popping up every week. Few leave a mark. Fewer make you complete a playthrough. Unlike The Forest.

You see, we are in a constant pursuit of more, and by ‘we’, I mean gamers like us. We want an ultra-realistic gaming experience that’s as IRL as a game can possibly deliver.

The Forest comes really really close.

You’re flanked by 2 cannibals and you’re waiting for them to pounce. You have an axe in your hand and you’ve dealt with the creatures 1v1 and won.

In any other game, you’d be in combat, and chances are you’d come out of it better.

Not in The Forest no.

Endnight Games have created a masterpiece, where the in-game AI wants to survive just as much as you do.

They’ve outdone themselves too but that’s a surprise loading up. Read on to find the 7 Games Like The Forest you can enjoy as much and maybe even more.

7 Best Games Like The Forest You Can Play Today

7. Outward: Definitive Edition

Outward looked great in 2019 but had too many nuanced issues and even some basic bugs that completely marred the gameplay. To make the best survival crafting game, you need a beautiful open world and Nine Dots did that. But they missed out on some basics.

With the Definitive Edition in 2022, the changes are beyond cosmetic, and you can get more involved with your playable character. Both DLC content packs are included in it, and you can now engage in city-building, choose between 4 factions instead of 3, and enjoy the combat which was, frankly, poor.

As long as you don’t set your expectations that high, Outward DE is great. But get too close and personal, it’s like the in-game graphics – great long visuals but poor close-ups.

6. ARK: Extinction

ARK was always crazy. It just got crazier with Survival Evolved. With Ark 2 supposedly, hopefully and finally releasing in 2024, this is the right time to let you in on ARK Extinction unless you’ve been through it.

Extinction is both easier and harder than previous ARK games. You can stick to the easy and simply wander around in safe zones but if you really want to look at the new dinos, step outside with your tames and make sure you have a team. These new dinos come in packs and they’re aggressive all right.

In a word, Extinction pushes soloing on ARK to extinction. It’s fun in co-op but that was one of the good things about ARK, not all of it. Yet, as a survival crafting game, it’s great. You’re crafting dinos for heaven’s sake. 

5. Metro: Exodus

Metro Exodus is the first Metro game to get crafting but that’s not the only reason it makes it to this list. Exodus is a beast of a survival game where you’re almost always on the brink.

There’s no cover. You’ve got no base build. No shelter. You’re out of ammo in a minute. And there’s another one coming straight at you. Time to melee with the shotgun again and that’s up close and personal.

Metro Exodus makes you forage and scavenge like you’ve never done before. You’re not faster than them and they’re almost always coming at you whenever in close proximity. One bullet don’t kill with most weapons and headshots rarely work unless you have a double barrel.

Luckily, you can craft your weapons into better ones, make more health kits, and survive long enough if you’re careful. But you never get the time and space to sit and wonder at the otherwise breathtaking post-apocalyptic nothingness.

Def one of the best games like The Forest. As a matter of fact, Metro: Exodus is one of the best games you’ve yet to play. I’m waiting for Metro Exodus multiplayer.

4. DayZ

What DayZ does so well is put survival above everything else but also takes care of everything else including the gameplay mechanics, the huge open world, fundamental base-building, and a multiplayer mindset where anyone can be a foe or friend.

It’s a huge world and it’s a tough one too. Every bottle of water and even an apple matters in DayZ unless you know your way around the map, takes time to get there and a couple of restarts. But the reward of spending more than a week alive with sufficient stock, a good weapon stack, and a plan is where DayZ makes it feel worth it.

Despite the steep learning curve, some consistently flawed controls, and somewhat limited graphics compared to other survival AAAs, DayZ is up there for what it is – a survival crafting game that’s easy enough to learn quickly and fun in co-op.

3. Valheim

Iron Gate is one gaming studio to watch out for in the coming years and that stands truer with Valheim releasing in 2021. If you’re a fan of survival games and you haven’t played Valheim yet, you’ve missed a gem.

The low-poly environment is eerily beautiful and sincere in the dangers lurking around. Crafting is at the core of Valheim’s gameplay and there lies its strengths. The sheer amount of immersion this game delivers is outstanding.

Co-op’s even more worth it. There’s just so much to do which explains why servers dedicate up to 10 players at a time.

Valheim’s perfect but there’s just one drop. Solo is too difficult and so is starting off with the game. This is for survival crafting pros mostly but there’s no better way to get started than with a tough nut to crack for newbies. Def one of the best games like The Forest. 

2. Don’t Starve Together

As far as survival crafting games go, there are few better than DS or now DST. Another rare sequel that’s better than its predecessor, Don’t Starve Together takes everything good in DS and builds on top of it and the result is survival crafting that’s deeper than what most players even today know they can do in-game.

Unlike Valheim, DST can work out solo but there’s work to do. You need to learn the basics and then build on top of it with calculated risks, experimentation and out of sheer will or rather the necessity to find a solution to basic needs like food.

DST makes you work things out yourself. There’s no help. Just why co-op is more fun to get done. But then again, that’s how survival games are to be themed out in the first place.

The only catch is that most players rarely make it through the first few layers of automation to even access the huge number of possibilities that DST includes in its survival sandbox environment. If Klei were to do something about that, I can see DST getting more players and the accolades it truly deserves.

1. Sons of the Forest

Picking up from where The Forest left off, Sons of the Forest does more and does it a lot better. Yeah there are bugs and stuff but it’s not like Fallout 76 or Cyberpunk, just the basics like trees flying around, you dropping through the ground, and the likes.

Set all that aside as there’s not a single review out there that complains about the bugs first. Everyone’s stoked with Sons of the Forest from the moment you hit the deck and start exploring.

This IS the best-looking survival crafting game out there as far as the open world is concerned. Clouds will stop the sun from coming in through the foliage. Brilliant.

Make your way a bit more in and you’re meeting up with the resident hostiles from The Forest. They are even more intelligent now.

At least now you have two allies to take care of your base with you. One, there’s Kevlin, deaf and a bit dumb. But he’s loyal and can read notes you pass him. You can ask him to forage for food or get some wood.

And there’s Virginia, a girl child with 4 legs and two hands, who’ll eventually help you find all the goodies, even firearms. Weird.

The best thing you do though is get on a server with up to 7 friends to churn the best out of the gaming system.

Lastly, coming to the cannibals, you can almost find them evolving in their complex approach towards you lot. It will still be hostile. They will come in hordes. But they are harder to predict now and sometimes smarter as well. SotF is tougher to get through than The Forest and I’ll just leave it right there.

SotF is the pick of this lot of best games like The Forest. Not because it’s the sequel itself but because it defines what survival crafting games should be – an organic experience that’s almost realistic. But I will recommend both DST and Valheim too. Or you can instead play Mirage for a more freestyle fun.